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Happy Birthday to Glenn Robinson III

By Ben Gibson

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 8: Glenn Robinson III #40 of the Indiana Pacers shoots the ball against the Detroit Pistons on March 8, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 8: Glenn Robinson III #40 of the Indiana Pacers shoots the ball against the Detroit Pistons on March 8, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Glenn Robinson III turns 24 today, and hopefully, for him and the Indiana Pacers, he returns to game action soon.

Happy Birthday, Glenn Robinson III! Now get back to work. The Indiana Pacers are hoping he can get healthy and play sometime soon. Robinson hasn’t played a game this season after injuring his left ankle in the preseason, which led to surgery to repair the damage.

The good news is he started practicing with the Pacers this week, a positive sign after missing 3 months worth of games so far.

He isn’t getting the same lift on his shots yet, but he was draining his shots in practice the other day.

When he does return, the Pacers need him to be the 3-and-D wing he was a season ago. One that should have been starting over Monta Ellis.

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And the Pacers certainly need the defense. Tony East wrote last week about the role Robinson will be asked to fill, noting that Indiana’s struggled defensively in the small forward spot.

"Poor defense on the wing has been one of the Pacers biggest challenges this season. All three of the previously mentioned guys have a defensive box plus-minus in the negatives (Stephenson -.3, Wilkins -2.3, Bogdanovic -2.4 per basketball-reference). Stopping guys on the catch out on the wing continues to be a challenge for Indiana, and it often leads to easy buckets at the rim for the opposing team."

While his defense is what the Pacers need the most, his 3-point shooting isn’t a bad thing for Indiana either. Last season he made 39.2% of his 3-pointers. While he only took 1.8 a game, it’s hard to know if he would shoot more (or less) of them with this version of the Pacers.

If nothing else, it won’t hurt to have a good kick out option for Victor Oladipo. Last season 43.3% of his 3-point attempts came on catch and shoot attempts, including his game-winner over the Atlanta Hawks.

The tough part of the injury for Robinson is this could have been a breakout year for Robinson if he built off of last year’s progress. He committed himself two summer’s ago to becoming a 3-and-D player for the Pacers, and impressively, he became exactly that.

Next: The art of the rebuild: trade deadline season

As long as he can be the player he was last season, Indiana is in good shape. The question when he returns is how much further he can elevate himself in that role.

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